A proud, flag-waving liberal

It really annoys me that the American flag has become synonymous with right-wing politics ("Right-wing Migration," HCN, 5/13/13). I am an avowed "liberal," as right-wingers derisively call me, yet I grew up with a love for flags. When my parents took me to Denmark as a child to visit the country they grew up in, I immediately noticed that nearly every house had a full-size flagpole out front; flags were everywhere. My parents weren't into that, so I had to wait until I grew up and had my own place before I could hang a flag outside. It bothers me to think that passersby might assume that, because I fly a flag, I'm one of those pro-gun, anti-science, anti-government types.

The media drives this impression, and your cover showing the American flag flying on the back of a boat of a presumed far-right-winger on Lake Coeur d'Alene re-emphasized it. I sure don't want to see right-wingers "own" the American flag; it's supposed to represent all Americans.